A guanine is swapped for a thymine in a gene sequence. Explain how this may alter the function of the protein it translates.

The alteration in the nucleotide sequence of the gene may result in a change in the amino acid sequence of the protein during translation. Each set of three RNA nucleotides (anticodon) is recognised by a ribosome during translation, and a specific amino acid is attached to the growing amino acid sequence according to the anticodon sequence. A different amino acid may have different chemical properties which results in altered folding and/or interactions with other molecules which changes its function.